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First read after the monumental book that is Good Omens. Good books only this September.

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this week’s read

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I need to fill my dash. Any active writeblrs, booklrs or artists if you could like or reblog this please so I can follow?

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MY FAVOURITE WRITER-ISH MOVIES

You’ve read the title correctly, and I can hear you saying: “Lifebetweenpages, you’re still not giving us a recap of the books you have read over the past month (plus a few weeks, give or take)! Bad Bookblr creator!” However, instead, I am giving you my list of movies to watch when you are out of ideas for your books, can’t be bothered to read and still want to feel like an intelligent author. We’ve all been there.

I can also hear you saying “But Lifebetweenpages, how can you be a trustworthy authority on writer things? You’re our favourite bibliomane, not our favourite author!” To this, I raise two points:

I have been writing silly little books since I was virtually a toddler, and I have three main projects sitting dejectedly in my Google Docs currently, my novel which I work on most frequently sitting at an upsettingly ‘decent’ 23k words.

I do imagine you would have more faith in me, dear hypothetical followers, seeing as you only exist in my synapses, and I would hope I hold higher opinions about myself than that. However, I believe many of you (hypothetically) should have (hypothetically) guessed that I’m a writer as well as a reader, seeing as all writers read and many readers write.

Now with that out of the way, let’s jump into our list, and by list I mean my ramblings about two very specific movies.

1 - DEAD POETS SOCIETY (1989)

I’ve decided to put the obvious up first, so you can skim through this if you have either watched this incredible movie or have already heard glowing reviews.

With its heavy focus on classic poetry and message of embracing the arts and following your passions, it’s not a surprise that Dead Poets Society has became the artist’s top pick movie and a cliche staple on this sort of snappy list.

When I say the movie focuses on poetry, I mean a much stronger term. Dead Poets Society promotes poetry in a way, showing the viewer the truth, joy and magic that comes with the form of art, inspiring them to go out and seize it. If that doesn’t help sell the movie to you, just note that my friends and I, who come out of every poetry analysis in English class with our eyes glazed over, were inspired to create our own Dead Poets Society, meeting every so often. In fact, we reconvene in two days time at the time of writing, and I still need to pick a poem (and it will be a Sylvia Plath.)

Another element that stands out in Dead Poets Society is the atmosphere of the film, somehow drawing in: a contagious teenage sense of wonder and mischief, world-destroying grief, and that Dark Academia aesthetic that people on the internet adore and my blog leans into all together.

So please, even if you aren’t a writer or reader and have stumbled onto this page confused and startled, give this movie a watch, for your own world to be changed if not just for me.

2 - TICK, TICK... BOOM! (2021)

You know the overwhelming sense of doom that comes with attempting to make your mark on the world? Do you recognise the sense of dread that drowns you whenever you remember the concept of time? Well so did Jonathan Larson, and he documented the experience expertly when writing Tick, Tick… BOOM!

Lately, I’ve been hearing this sound. Everywhere I go. Like a tick. Tick. Tick. Like a time bomb in some cheesy B-movie or Saturday morning cartoon. The fuse has been lit. The clock counts down the seconds as the flame gets closer, and closer, and closer, until all at once -

This was written years before he achieved fame with RENT, years before his genius was appreciated, and years before his untimely death from an aortic dissection. Tick, tick... BOOM! was written when Jonathan was relatively unknown, struggling with balancing work, social life and his art, and completely confused as how to tackle the final fragment that was needed to complete the musical he had been working on for the entirety of his youth, fighting against the tides of the ever-chasing deadline of Superbia's first showcase. Whatever your art is, I imagine you can relate to the desperation of Jonathan.

Andrew Garfield, who plays Jonathan Larson, perfectly portrays the starving artist, ever frantic to please, ever submerged in just how much there is to balance, ever striving to make a difference, and it almost feels as if he has held a mirror up to the artist's soul, portraying all of the irrationality and the unintentional selfishness as well as the charisma and the creativity that I see in myself every time I look into my mind for more than one second.

All of these factors and more that I can't find the words to describe (which is a lot for me, because I always find some words, however shallow they may be) makes Tick, Tick... BOOM! one of my favourite movies. Plus, the songs are absolute magic (I have a very strange favourite - Play Game - how can a song parodying 90s hip hop reflect upon the commercialisation of theatre in such an eloquent way?)

So those are my recommendations for all your tired writer needs, and once you do watch these, my asks are open for you to wax poetic about their glory.

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Books I've Read These Past Two Weeks (11th of December - 1st of January)

A DRAFT IN WHICH I FORGOT THE EXISTENCE OF

Another two weeks later, and I have returned with a vengeance and an ever-growing pile of books to read. Due to the commotion around Yuletide, I only have a few books to present to you. As to not procrastinate further, we'll start the list.

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker - pg 1 to pg 293 (end) - 4/5 - I deeply adore retellings of Greek myths, especially feminist retellings. When I was younger, I fell in love with the Percy Jackson series and the wider Riordanverse pertaining to Greek mythos. This enjoyment has escalated to a slight obsession with the myths and their retellings. I have read Stephen Fry's Mythos series and Circe by Madeline Miller eagerly, with The Song of Achilles by Miller, Ariadne by Jennifer Saint, and the sequel to the book I am currently writing on waiting on my towering bookshelf to be consumed.

Something about Silence of the Girls struck me as more familiar, more truthful than some of the retellings I have already read; whether that be due to the usage of dialect that I can shudder at for it is used in the area which I am from, or it may be due to the crude detail that is explored in between the pages, forcing you to cringe and go through each painstaking detail and torture that these Trojan girls are put through.

Achilles' and Patroclus' relationship is traversed beautifully, all of the subtleties creating this uncanny boundary between lovers and a friendly, brotherly bond, all whilst portraying the controlling nature of Achilles and the seeds are planted, slowly leading up to Patroclus' downfall (which is especially upsetting for he is the only Greek you can really root for.)

Now, I shall spare you the rest of the details for this is a book I would love you to go out and read yourself.

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Books I've Read These Past 2 Weeks (28th of November - 11th of December)

Hello again world, it seems I started this blog at the completely wrong time, as a myriad of events have caused me to lack time to read, hence, this post will be much more scarce than it should be. However, I shall persevere with this post, combining the past two weeks into one update. So here it is:

Family of Liars by E.Lockheart - pg 1 - 320 (end) - 3/5 - I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I opened this book, as I haven't read the book that it is meant to be a prequel to (it didn't arrive - long story), however, I presumed that it would be quite romance heavy, due to the reading habits of TikTok, the platform on which its successor was heralded. I was correct, as romance did end up playing a large role in the book - however - I feel as if this was its downfall, as the relationship felt insignificant in the grand scope of the novel, in comparison to the mystery, worldbuilding, and themes of family and friendship in the book, components which often felt abandoned whilst the author focused on the protagonist, Carrie's love life. Also (this may be due to how I have not read the main book in the series), the supernatural was introduced then not expanded upon, as it becomes a normality that Carrie and her mother (spoiler) can see ghosts.

My favourite parts of the book were the worldbuilding: (the lemon hunt scene and the scene when the boys arrive at the island especially), which creates a perfect, idealistic world which should have been impactful to tear down once Carrie and her family's true traumas were revealed; and the (spoiler) murder at the end, which highlighted the themes of family and unity that had been sown throughout the book (it seems, once you eliminate a certain Pfeff from the tale, then the book becomes much more interesting.)

As usual, I feel like the characters' mental psyches could have been explored further, as behaviours are stated and then moved on from: Carrie taking pills, Penny's need to hide her true self, etc. These are all major ways that the girls were acting out upon their traumas and pressures -the traumas and pressures which were barely explored. I know there's a saying in writing, "show not tell" but I did feel like this needed just a bit more "telling" to actually get any kind of point across.

Apologies if you do not enjoy this longer form of review, the only book I've read enough over these two weeks to be able to write a cohesive review upon is Family of Liars, and I felt like you deserved some more content than a single paragraph after this blog has been radio silent for almost half of a month. Hopefully, I shall be able to deliver you more content upon next Monday.

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Books I've Read This Week (21st-28th of November)

I Know You Did It by Sue Wallman: pg 135 - pg 341 (end) - 2.5/5 - I received this book for my birthday from one of my friends and I wasn't exactly looking forward to it as it is a murder mystery (a book genre I don't usually enjoy). However, I actually slightly enjoyed it! It wasn't amazing, for example, I believed that Ruby's mental state should have been delved more into after the disaster of her childhood and there were a few too many characters to keep track of (that could just be a personal issue though). The revelation of the true mastermind was very predictable (not because all the hints were lining up, just because it was obvious - the only one with a motive is the murderer, shocking). However, Ruby and her boyfriend were quite sweet and it was just an easy, fast-paced read for when I didn't feel like reading something heavier. Plus, Scott is an icon and I would have gladly let him fix my reputation (and then hopefully become best friends).

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath - pg 119- pg 165 (ongoing - no rating) Heavy. Heavy, heavy, heavy. I don't know how I came into this book expecting it to be a tad lighter, but this has taken me over a few weeks to read because it is too dark to not reflect on afterward. The Bell Jar expertly reflects the protagonist's mental state, hopping from flashbacks to her past to reflections on society to Esther's disturbingly suicidal thoughts to information about the woman across the road's car, leaving the reader as confused as Esther's mental state. Also, you can tell this book was written by a poet and now Plath's imagery is inspiring me in my own work. I still haven't finished the novel, but this has me emphasising so much with Sylvia Plath, particularly how she was treated by others (that passage in the mental hospital - poor Sylvia.)

Heartstopper Volumes 1-4 by Alice Oseman (on Tapas) - These deserve their own review, but just so you know, Darcy has my heart.

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Seasons greetings and welcome to my cosy little corner of the internet. This is my sideblog (meaning I cannot follow people or like posts) to write essays about books, create endearing to be read and currently reading lists. This blog will also have a generally mellow, classic aesthetic, similar to a muted Dark Academia or Grey Academia if we're putting flashy, TikTok-ifed labels on it. Conjure images of dark coffees; ancient, ornate libraries; flickering candles and manuscripts penned in swirling obsidian ink if your mind has not been corrupted by labels and boxes just yet.

My Top 3 Books (in no particular order):

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Rating System:

Xanthous - This post is not a review/does not describe a book in any detail.

Pristine - No spoilers, don’t fret.

Murky - Slight spoilers, usually just alluding to/stating character details or events which are revealed/occur early in the book.

Stygian - Post contains major spoilers for the topic covered.